Silicon Investor (SI) -- The First Internet Community

STOCKTALK

We've detected that you're using an ad content blocking browser plug-in or feature. Ads provide a critical source of revenue to the continued operation of Silicon Investor. We ask that you disable ad blocking while on Silicon Investor in the best interests of our community. If you are not using an ad blocker but are still receiving this message, make sure your browser's tracking protection is set to the 'standard' level.

Technology Stocks : Amazon.com, Inc. (AMZN) -- Ignore unavailable to you. Want to Upgrade?

To: Sarmad Y. Hermiz who wrote (52695)	4/26/1999 11:50:00 AM
From: 16yearcycle	Respond to of 164684

I agree.

To: Sarmad Y. Hermiz who wrote (52695)	4/26/1999 6:10:00 PM
From: Glenn D. Rudolph	Respond to of 164684

The Wall Street Journal Interactive Edition -- April 26, 1999 Cyber Investing Yahoo! Says Its Stock-Chat Boards Are Entertainment, Not Research By JASON ANDERS THE WALL STREET JOURNAL INTERACTIVE EDITION Yahoo! Finance has tacked a warning onto its popular stock-chat message boards: Don't believe what you read. "Never assume people are who they say they are, know what they say they know, or are affiliated with whom they say they are affiliated," users are now told. "This service is for entertainment only." Securities regulators say the warning is a step in the right direction, but the notion that the boards are just for entertainment is in stark contrast to how many have viewed -- and promoted -- such forums. Message boards are generally considered to be one of the many Internet tools that have helped make the stock market more accessible to a new generation of online investors. A Yahoo Inc. spokeswoman says the notice is just a reminder of information that has always been explained in the service's terms of use. "With regard to the use of the word 'entertainment,' that word is used in our terms of service. I think what we're really trying to say there is that this is a communications medium, just like chat. It's not a news service," says Diane Hunt, the spokeswoman. "We want to make it really clear that people need to do their own research." The Sites Yahoo! Finance Silicon Investor Motley Fool Yahoo, like other message-board operators, lately has faced increasing scrutiny -- and subpoenas -- from regulators and companies who want to uncover the true identities of certain problem posters. Message boards have proved an efficient vehicle for conducting scams, and owners of the forums are under pressure to clean up the content. "I think this is just Yahoo trying to protect themselves," says Bonnie Nuss, a free-lance writer in Austin, Texas, who is a regular on Yahoo's message boards. "Message boards aren't for entertainment purposes. They are a tremendous educational tool for investors. I've learned more there than anywhere else." Ms. Nuss regularly participates in a board that discusses Dell Computer, and says she probably spends about 35 hours a week browsing online posts. "I think people are already pretty skeptical online. I don't think this warning is going to help that." Yahoo's warning echoes what securities regulators have always told investors: Never invest based on something you read online. But that advice has fallen largely on deaf ears, as indicated by the success of stock promoters and others who have used message boards to tout stocks in an effort to boost share prices. Civil Fraud Charges Are Filed by SEC in PairGain Takeover Web-Hoax Case (April 22) On April 7, an anonymous post on Yahoo announcing that networking firm PairGain Technologies was being acquired sent that company's stock soaring as much as 32%. The U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission has since filed civil fraud charges against a PairGain employee who the agency says used Yahoo to direct users to a fake news story on an elaborate Web site constructed to look like a page from Bloomberg.com (www.bloomberg.com). Yahoo has maintained somewhat of a hands-off approach to policing its boards, compared with some of its online competitors who pay staffs to monitor the daily crush of messages. Until recently, users weren't required to supply even the most basic identification information. Even now, the site only requires users to supply an electronic-mail address. But Yahoo's new warning also emphasizes the company's position on user privacy, and sends a message to those who would use its system to commit fraud: If forced by a subpoena, Yahoo will provide identification information on its users. (And, yes, the service is quick to point out, there are many ways to identify users who attempt to remain anonymous.) Yahoo's competitors say they have no plans to add similar warnings of their own, and say they have faith in the quality of information users glean from message-board posts. "We view legitimate financial discussion as a valuable part of the process for investors," says Mark Peterson, a spokesman for Go2Net, which owns the Silicon Investor stock-chat site. "Certainly you can' t base investment decisions solely on investment discussions. But there is clearly value in these forums." Motley Fool, another of Yahoo's rivals, has long touted its community of message-board users as the investment site's greatest resource. "Our message boards are different from Yahoo because we have people monitoring them," says Julie Lewis, a spokeswoman for the popular Motley Fool site. She says the site tries to keep all of its content entertaining, but says that certainly isn't the primary function of the boards. "We take very good care to be sure that the information [on the boards] is good information. It's a great way to meet people who invest in the same stocks you do, and share ideas," she says. Yahoo's warning is a good first-step in reigning in message-board users, says Marc Crandall, lead counsel for the California Department of Corporations, which was involved in the PairGain investigation. "I like this idea. I think people should realize that a lot of stock scammers have moved from the boiler room to the chat room, and this can be a dangerous place," he says. Mr. Crandall says message-board operators and others who run systems where stock advice is traded need to take greater responsibility in keeping their users safe from scams. "I'd never say that they should be responsible if people get scammed, but I do think there is a certain degree of responsibility to educate investors," he says. The SEC declined to comment on Yahoo's new warning.